VeganMoFo: Saucy Tofu

Today’s prompt is: It’s cold and rainy and there’s a snow drift outside your door! What are you going to make using the ingredients you have?

Nothing says Minnesota like a snow drift, unless perhaps it’s meat and potatoes. Growing up my grandma and mom would make saucy pork chops and served alongside potatoes it’s the quintessential hearty winter meal. Today I’ve reimagined it with tofu.

Flo’s Saucy Pork Chops  Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 block of tofu sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced (I used half of a large onion)
• 2 cups vegan cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions

• Cook tofu on both sides seasoned generously with salt pepper
• Top with onions
• Combine remaining ingredients and pour over tofu
• Cook covered for 30 minutes

VeganMoFo: Veganize an old family recipe

Earlier this month I veganized a childhood favorite with vegan tater tot hot dish and this next recipe honors the Minnesota hot dish as well – chicken broccoli hot dish. Obviously chicken is out and Beyond Meat is in. While the tater tot hot dish simply evokes the original this chicken broccoli hot dish is indistinguishable from the original. Even my mom who is skeptical of “vegan food” with the exception of the Sprinkles red velvet cupcake couldn’t tell the difference. Enjoy!

Vegan chicken broccoli hot dish

• 1 16 oz package of frozen chopped broccoli, cooked (or more, if desired)
• 1 package of Beyond Meat chicken cubed (or more if desired)
• 2.5 cups of vegan cream of chicken soup (recipe follows)
• 1/2 cup of vegan cheddar cheese (optional)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup of Vegenaise mayo
• 1.5 tsp curry powder

Instructions

• Lightly grease a casserole dish
• Place broccoli and chicken in the dish
• Combine soup, lemon juice, mayo and curry powder and pour over chicken
• Top with cheddar cheese and croutons
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly

Vegan cream of chicken soup – Obviously a prepared cream of chicken soup is out of the question so I had to make one from scratch. This actually worked really well, but I think I’m still playing around with ratios. Doing this again I would reduce the milk and “chicken” stock to make it a bit thicker, but it’s all a matter of taste. I was able to freeze several jars from this recipe to use for future casseroles.

• 5 tbsp of Earth Balance vegan butter
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1.5 cups of non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
• 2 cups of vegetarian no-chicken broth
• 1 cup of non-dairy creamer (I used Wildwood soy creamer)
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of dried tarragon
• 1/4 tsp of all spice
• 2 bay leaves
• Generous amounts of salt and pepper

Instructions

• Heat butter over medium heat
• Add onion, garlic, celery, carrots, peas and flour and cook for 10 minutes
• While veggies are cooking layer in the spices
• Add milk, no chicken broth, creamer and bay leaves
• Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes so flavors come together

VeganMoFo: Honor someone who inspires your veganism

Full disclosure: I’m an imperfect vegetarian with some vegan tendencies, but I am loving participating in VeganMoFo because it gives me the opportunity to work on my vegan muscles and get creative with some new meals.

My move to vegetarianism has been inspired by my health. I had high cholesterol in my early 20s, in part because it runs in my family and in part because I grew up on a typical American diet – pizza lunchables were like their own food group at my house. As I was making these discoveries, I shared what I was learning with my dad and although he will likely never become vegetarian his ability to change his diet in his 60s inspires me every day.

After we watched Forks Over Knives, my dad quit cow’s milk immediately and switched to almond milk. He cut way back on ice cream and now chooses the non-dairy stuff. He eats a completely vegan breakfast every work day and even orders the vegetarian entree at lunch instead of a burger. In doing all of this he has cut his own cholesterol immensely and has even stopped taking Lipitor. If my dad can make these changes I can continue to learn and do better.

VeganMoFo: What’s your favorite late summer food?

Growing up in Minnesota the end of summer means one thing – tomatoes! My grandma used to slice them up and sprinkle sugar on top. Try this with a fresh, garden tomato and be amazed. This is the pasta salad recipe (with some vegan-friendly tweaks) that my mom brings out at all our summer BBQs and includes cherry tomatoes to celebrate this late summer food. I usually skip the tofu feta and pepperoni, but they make a nice addition too.

• 16 oz mini penne, cooked and drained
• 1 package of cherry tomatoes
• 2 jars marinated artichokes
• 1 chopped red onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 jar of kalamata olives
• Italian dressing – I like Good Seasons dressing mix packets, but your choice of Italian dressing will work well too
• Tofu feta (optional) – soak some small cubes of pressed tofu in the kalamata olive juice
• 1 package of vegan pepperoni (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine.

VeganMoFo: Share something vegan (and delicious, duh!) with a non-vegan

I’m back from a brief VeganMoFo hiatus since we were traveling to Michigan for a wedding. No great vegan finds to report as our stay was very brief. While I was in Minnesota, I did manage to make vegan pancakes for my mom and husband, as well as mushroom stroganoff for my parents, which they happily ate up with no complaints. I used this recipe, but doubled the mushrooms since I couldn’t find Gardein beef at the MN Whole Foods.  Alongside the stroganoff I served salad with my father-in-law’s salad dressing that is inspired by a restaurant he used to frequent in Santa Fe.

Ruben’s Salad Dressing

• 2 Cloves of garlic
• 1 Small yellow onion
• 3 Cups of oil (I used canola, my FIL uses corn)
• 3/4 Cups of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• Toasted sesame seeds

Blend all ingredients together, but add sesame seeds last. It’s so addictive and lasts for a while in the fridge. I haven’t tested the limits because we always eat it all within a couple of weeks.

Finally, while we were at the airport in Michigan, my sister surprised me by saying that she would go pescatarian/vegetarian for the month of October (we all start somewhere, right?). This is huge, as this girl has said multiple times that she would NEVER, EVER go vegetarian. So in the spirit of today’s post, I’m sending her the 30 Day Vegan Challenge and The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick Goudreau for inspiration.

VeganMoFo: Most Retro Recipe

To me nothing says retro quite like cocktail meatballs. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandparents (who just met my daughter for the first time today) and when they babysat I was almost always fed a balanced lunch of meatballs and Cheetos. I don’t know where to find vegan Cheetos, but these meatballs taste like the meatballs my grandpa made growing up. My husband and taste tester let me know that these would fool even the most die hard meat eater at a football tailgate and encouraged me to bring them to his fantasy football draft, but we had no leftovers this time around.

Combine together in a slow cooker – 1 package of vegan meatballs, 1 jar of grape jelly and one jar of Heinz chili sauce. Cook on low heat until sauce is blended together and meatballs are heated through.

VeganMoFo: Make a new vegan friend

Truth be told, a lot of my friends are already vegetarian or have vegetarian leanings, so today’s prompt scared me a bit because I wasn’t sure how I was going to make a new friend by Sept. 8. However, through the miracle of VeganMoFo, I’ve been finding all sorts of new bloggers and connections. I met the talented Michelle Lee of Boards&Knives through Twitter and am completely in love with her creative recipes and gorgeous photos. Her monster burger is out of this world.

Boards&Knives is about home-cooked recipes with no rules except two: it must be vegan and it must be delicious! Sometimes healthy and sometimes indulgent, the recipes on Boards&Knives strive to make vegan food look and taste accessible to everyone, with a mission of encouraging more people to try eating plant-based meals. Boards& Knives was created by Michelle Lee, a cookbook fanatic who currently resides in Austin, TX.

What’s more: today she has rounded up her picks for MoFo blogger buddies. Head over to her site and check it out.

My new vegan blogger friend

VeganMoFo: Make something inspired by a book or film

Today’s recipe is inspired by Lady and the Tramp: spaghetti.

For this easy recipe, I used boxed noodles and a bottle of packaged sauce, but I spiced it up with some seasoned TVP. It tastes like the meat version I grew up with, but better for you.

Seasoned TVP

• 1 cup TVP
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds chopped
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or any other spices you desire)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Rehydrate the TVP in hot water
• Saute onion and garlic until onion is soft
• Add TVP, fennel, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper
• “Brown” the TVP for a few minutes and add spaghetti sauce

VeganMoFo: Re-create a Restaurant Meal

So I missed yesterday because we were busy packing up to head to Minnesota for the next week and visit my family. Between brunch (lots of veg options at Daily Dose), the baby’s music class and the ASU game, we were busy! I will say, however, that the best sandwich in the world is from Green – the Original ‘G Po Boy. It’s a vegan version of the buffalo chicken sandwich. I haven’t found a way to re-create that meal at home, but sometimes I’ll slather chickpeas in Frank’s and serve them up in a tortilla with Vegenaise, tomato, lettuce and avocado.

A restaurant meal I did re-create at home comes from Pomegranate, a local vegetarian restaurant. The meal is their avocado sandwich which consists of seasoned tofu, avocado, tomato, vegan cheese, macadamia basil pesto and sprouts.

Avocado Sandwich

• Tofu
• Salt
• Pepper
• Turmeric
• 2 Tbsp oil
• Avocado
• Tomato
• Vegan cheese (optional)
• Macadamia nut pesto (recipe follows)
• Sprouts or lettuce

Tofu

• Press the tofu and slice into bread-sized pieces
• Heat a medium-sized pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of oil
• Season the tofu on both sides with salt, pepper and turmeric to taste
• Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side
• Layer with avocado, tomato, cheese, pesto and sprouts or lettuce (I used lettuce because I had some in the fridge)

Macadamia nut pesto

• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup olive oil (if I were to re-do this recipe I would use 1/4 cup of olive oil and add olive oil or water if it needed more)
• 3 cups (or so) of packed basil
• 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast (what I had left in my fridge)
• 2 Tbsp (or so) of lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Chop garlic in food processor, scrape down sides
• Add macadamia nuts and process until finely chopped
• Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it’s pesto

VeganMoFo: Tell us about a weird food combo that you love

A weird food combo that I love is a bean burrito with pineapple and guac. My husband thought I was crazy until he tried it and now he loves it too.